Wales must 'front up physically' against brutal Boks
Wales coach Steve Tandy used the word ‘physicality’ several times in his analysis of their Nations Championship face-off against South Africa in Durban on Saturday.
Tandy said the Springboks are “probably the most physical team in the world”.
While the Welsh have shown some ‘green shoots’ of promise during the Six Nations and earlier rounds of the Nations Championship, they are still underdogs against the world’s top-ranked team.
He added that they are unlikely to meet South Africa at the ‘front door’ in their Kings Park face-off on Saturday, and have adjusted their strategy.
Tandy, taking a leaf out of Rassie Erasmus’s playbook, opted for a 6-2 forwards-heavy split on the replacements bench.
He readily admits this is to sustain the brutal physical collisions late into the second half.
Wales recalled heavy-hitters like lock Teddy Williams and physical loose forward Alex Mann to add raw size and abrasive work rate alongside seasoned abrasive players like captain Dewi Lake.
While they won’t be using ‘blunt force’ in Durban, they must improve their physical game.
The sobering 73-0 rout the Springboks recorded in Cardiff back in November highlighted how catastrophic it can be for Wales if they fail to blunt South Africa’s power.
He was perspicacious in his response when asked if he felt Wales could go toe-to-toe with the Springboks.
(WATCH as Wales coach Steve Tandy explains what it will take for his team to overcome the world’s top-ranked side, South Africa……)
“I think we’re building confidence in our team, and I think over a period, we’ve started to put a coaching team together as well to get more consistency for the players,” Tandy said.
“We feel they’ve developed over the last three campaigns.
“I think it’s an awesome test, an awesome opportunity for us to see how far we have developed against South Africa.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity for us to pitch up against the world’s best on the weekend.”
Tandy used the standard, ‘it is about our performance’, when asked if they are confident they can beat the Boks.
“For us, it is making sure we get our game right,” the coach said, adding: “Hopefully we get small wins on the field that get us into that position [to secure a win].”
However, when asked directly what aspects of the game are vital on Saturday, he had no hesitation in dropping the physicality angle.
“That’s pretty easy to answer. It’s physicality,” Tandy said.
“They’re probably the most physical team in the world you’re going up against. We have to be mentally and physically prepared for that challenge.
“The boys have trained really well.
“We had a live training on Tuesday. Yesterday [Wednesday], they really worked hard, mentally preparing for that challenge.
“It’s going to be an awesome opportunity for us to see where we’re at in that space.”
Asked how they would achieve the required physicality, he returned to a more calculated response.
“There’s lots of nuance around how you defend,” the Welsh coach said.
“It’s like working in twos and how you go about that, but also the speed and the physicality where we’ve got to be sharper than we were last weekend.
“We’ve got to get into positions better because we know that you’re not going to match South Africa probably front door, so it’s making sure that there are tactical nuances in how we go about that and making sure we work as a team.
“Because that’s where we’re going to have to work together, whether that be defensively in pairs, because you know what the physicality’s going to be coming, our speed to the breakdown, as we know they are brutal at the breakdown.
“So we’re going to have to be quick as well as physical about the collisions, making sure our speed is right up there, too.”
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